A Bedtime Story
by DracoDew17
Summary: Three children are settling down to bed for a story and the tale is a familiar one. PostHBP.


A/N: See below.

Disclaimer: I wish I did, but sadly, I don't own it.

**A Bedtime Story**

Lydia, age eight, and her two little brothers, Alex, age five, and Dylan, age three, were just settling down to bed when their aunt came in the room to check on them.

Abigail, Abby for short, was their father's youngest sister and the one taking care of them for the weekend in her flat while their parents, Stephen and Nora, enjoyed a short vacation in Paris to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

Aunt Abby just happened to be their favorite aunt out of the many relatives in their rather large family and was only two years past her Hogwarts graduation. She was now in the middle of her mediwitch training and wasn't able to spend as much time with the children as she once did, so this weekend was a treat for all of them.

After making sure all three children were tucked in for the night, Abby pulled up a chair and took a seat by the bedside. This was a ritual that was observed every time she looked after the children.

"So, which one will it be tonight?"

Lydia, the most assertive of the bunch, voiced her choice. "Let's hear our favorite." The two boys made noises of agreement to their sister's words.

Abby sighed, which the children knew was more for show than anything else. She enjoyed the story as much as they did. "Your favorite? But you've heard that one over a hundred times. Surely you must have it memorized by now."

Lydia widened her large brown eyes to plead with her aunt. "But nobody tells it like you, Aunt Abby."

Abby smiled at her niece and nephews. "Okay." She leaned against the high-back chair before beginning.

_Once upon a time, there was a little boy who was born into a very wealthy family. He had the best of everything and more toys than you can imagine. Rooms and rooms filled to the brim with toy-potions kits and training broomsticks and model dragons. Everything he ever wanted, he received._

_But the little boy wasn't happy. In fact, he was very lonely since there were no other children to play with him. Can you imagine having all those toys but no one to share them with?_

All three children shook their heads no, as they listened in rapt fascination.

_However, the lack of other children around was the least of this little boy's problems. He didn't know it yet, because he didn't know any better, but he was born to one of the worst magical families in the world._

As if on cue, the three children gasped dramatically like they had never heard the tale before.

_The boy's father was a very cruel man who belonged to a group of people who believed some very bad things. These people believed that those not of magical descent shouldn't be allowed to practice magic and should also be eradicated from our world. They believed all the Muggleborns and Muggles should be killed._

_What the little boy didn't know was that a very dark wizard, before he was born, had been trying to do just that and his father was one of this wizard's followers. But the dark wizard was unsuccessful because of another little boy, a special little boy, which the wealthy little boy would one day meet when they both went to Hogwarts._

Alex piped up then, as he always did. "What was the name of the special little boy?"

_Well, everyone called him The-Boy-Who-Lived since he was the only one who has ever survived being hit by the Killing Curse. It is still a feat that has gone unmatched._

_Anyway,_ Abby continued, getting back on track_, the wealthy little boy's father had taught him to believe in the same things, to treat others as inferior and to hold that hate of Muggleborns inside him until it was deeply ingrained into his character. He became a proud, spiteful child who was very difficult to be around once the time came to go to Hogwarts._

_There, on the train to school, the little boy came across The-Boy-Who-Lived for the second time. They had once met in Diagon Alley, but they were unaware of each other's names. Unfortunately, the wealthy boy's head was too filled by his father's teachings at this point and he made the mistake of insulting the first friend The-Boy-Who-Lived had ever made, the youngest son of the Weasley family, thereby setting the stage for many years of mutual hatred and rivalry between the boys._

_Also on the train was a little Muggleborn girl who would soon be known as the cleverest witch in Hogwarts. She became best friends with The-Boy-Who-Lived and the Weasley boy after they saved her from a mountain troll during the Halloween feast of their first year. The three children went on many adventures together since The-Boy-Who-Lived seemed to attract unwanted attention from the dark wizard who was relentlessly trying to regain his power._

_The other little boy, the one whose mind had been poisoned by his father, constantly taunted and ridiculed all three of them for years while they were at school, but the Muggleborn girl he treated the worst. He started calling her the 'M' word in their second year and continued to use it thereafter._

Lydia, Alex, and Dylan's eyes all widened at that. They knew well what that word meant.

_This all might have continued as it was, but something happened to change everything at the end of their fourth year. The dark wizard finally reclaimed his former power and all his followers returned to him, including the wealthy boy's father. This group of wizards was known as Death Eaters. Do you know what happened then?_

The three children shook their heads in the negative.

_The Ministry denied the dark wizard's return. They didn't believe The-Boy-Who-Lived who had seen it with his own eyes. Hogwarts became a battleground between the Order and the Ministry as they fought for control over how to handle things. Trust was not something given lightly in those days._

_Then, at the end of the children's fifth year, the wealthy boy's father, along with several other of the dark wizard's followers, was captured during a raid the Death Eaters made at the Ministry to recover a prophecy concerning the dark wizard and The-Boy-Who-Lived. The boy's father was put in prison and the boy became very angry at the people he felt were responsible, namely The-Boy-Who-Lived and his two friends._

Lydia had her head tilted to the side. "He wanted to get back at them, huh?"

Abby nodded.

_Yes, he did, but something even more imperative came about. He was asked by the dark wizard his father followed to perform a task during his sixth year of Hogwarts or else his family would suffer the consequences. Now, the boy didn't have the greatest parents in the world, but family is still family. He accepted his orders and began to start carrying them out._

_At the end of their sixth year though, when faced with having to kill someone, he was unable to go through with it, but the damage had already been done. The Potions Master, a former Death Eater turned spy, had to kill the Hogwarts headmaster in his steed and they fled from the castle._

_The professor returned the boy to his mother, and together they escaped to Number 12, Grimmauld Place to hide from the dark wizard's wrath. It just so happened that it was also once the headquarters to the Order, the group of wizards and witches who fought against the dark wizard and his followers. Knowing this, the boy's mother was quick to find a solution to their predicament. She offered it as the headquarters once more since her cousin died the previous year._

_The Order accepted and after it had been set up again, the boy had his own idea about how to help, and a way to keep him out of prison, seeing very few options. The-Boy-Who-Lived and his two friends ended up there not too long after the school was closed and the boy offered to spy in exchange for immunity regarding his actions during sixth year. After clearing it with certain people within the Order, the boy's request was granted and he went back to serve the dark wizard, very aware of his betrayal._

_Many months went by and the boy continued to spy on the dark wizard, gathering more and more information that the Order was using to slowly wear down the other side's supporters. During this time, the wealthy boy and the Muggleborn girl became closer as she served as his contact for the Order. He was able to see for himself that the opinions his father held regarding Muggleborns were not the truth. In fact, throughout those months, he found himself drifting farther and farther away from his father's teachings and accepted that he hadn't been right after all._

_The boy was finally able to make his peace with the other three, and a tentative friendship was formed, one that could have begun seven years prior had he been less invested in his father's ideology. However, the friendship he had with the Muggleborn girl continued to grow until they found themselves starting a relationship, but because of the struggle, they had to keep their newfound feelings for each other a secret._

_They were successful, too. Nobody had any idea about their relationship and things continued to be that way for nearly two years until everything exploded around them. The dark wizard, tired of the covert back-and-forth between his side and the Order's, decided to make a stand in Hogsmeade after breaking all his captured followers out of prison._

_The Order went to meet them and the two sides broke out into battle. It was a long, bloody conflict that lasted for hours and many lives were lost on that day. When it finally looked like the fight was starting to wind down, the boy's father, who he hadn't seen in almost three years, committed a last desperate act when he realized his side was losing. He cursed the Muggleborn girl who was in love with his son, holding her in his power fully intending to kill her, and the boy was forced to make a choice. He took his own father's life to save the girl he loved and it wasn't until that moment he realized what his prejudice could have cost him._

_The war ended that day and The-Boy-Who-Lived emerged the victor over the dark wizard for the final time. The entire wizarding world rejoiced the end of the struggle and everybody was finally free to move on with the rest of their lives._

_The-Boy-Who-Lived, no longer the target of the dark wizard, became an Auror and married the Weasley girl, the younger sister of his best friend. The Weasley boy became a professional Quidditch player and married Luna Lovegood, the best friend of his younger sister. After being granted the immunity he was promised, the wealthy boy inherited his family estate which took most of his time to run it and married the Muggleborn girl, who became one of the most famous Potions researchers in history as well as a notable charity organizer. And they all lived happily ever after._

Abby finished her story with a flourish and sat back in her chair. Dylan and Alex were both already asleep, but Lydia was still sitting up watching her aunt. Abby just waited for the questions to come since she knew, no matter how many times she told the story, her niece would always ask the same questions.

Lydia tilted her head to the side once more. "Is that _really_ what happened to Great Gamma and Great Papa?"

"Yes, Lydia, it is."

"How come you know so much about it?"

Abby smiled. "Because Grandmother is a very smart woman. Many years ago, before you or even before I was born, she started a family record and wrote down her and Grandfather's story so all the future generations of this family would know that prejudice in any form is wrong."

"What does 'happily ever after' mean?"

"It means that after four children, fifteen grandchildren, twenty-three great grandchildren, and nearly seventy-five years of marriage, they're still happy."

Noticing her niece's eyes were beginning to droop, Abby Malfoy rose from her seat by the bed and pressed a kiss to Lydia's forehead as she turned off the light on the nightstand. She quietly made her way out of the room, glancing back at the sleeping children as she closed the door softly behind her with a small smile on her face.

The Malfoy family was now a happy one, indeed.

**The End**

A/N: A little vague? Sure, but I seriously doubt Draco and Hermione shared every gory detail of the war with their kids and even in the family record, I bet there's only an overall account. Anyway, I very much enjoyed writing this one since it's so different from my usual style and I had fun playing with the 'story-telling' aspect of it. I hope you enjoyed it, too, and you will leave your thoughts about it in a review. :)


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